French F4

Benyahia Reignites Chances with Maiden Victory at Catalunya

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51 BENYAHIA Michael(USA),F4, during the 2016 FIA WTCC World Touring Car Championship race of Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France from April 1 to 3 - Photo Marc de Mattia / DPPI

Moroccan driver Michael Benyahia took victory in the second race of the final French F4 Championship weekend at Circuit de Catalunya. After starting third for the reverse grid encounter, he made progress in the early laps to claim his first win of the season.

Despite finishing on the podium five times already this season, Benyahia had yet to take the top spot. With third place in the championship still up for grabs, the 16-year-old needed a strong result as he goes into the final race of the season with a significant point advantage.

Pole position had been Casper Roes Anderson. The Danish driver had been in a similar situation at Le Mans, when he’d started on the front row, going on to lead the majority of the race. Though, like two months ago, he once again finished second after a race-long battle. It wasn’t so fortunate for his fellow front row starter, as Aleks Karkosik continued to pushed back throughout the race, eventually retiring.

Roes himself was in a battle for ninth in the standings, though will slightly frustrated to have finished only one place in front of main rival Jean-Baptise Mela. The Frenchman had gained a place after his seventh place in race one, continuing his consistent run of results.

The strong result for Benyahia allows him to extend his gap slightly at the top of the standings, though his rivals kept a close distance, with Hugo Chevalier finishing 3.8 seconds back in fourth. While his rival will take the honours, it was an impressive drive up the order as he beat home Tristan Charpentier.

Sixth place would eventually go to Javier Cobian. It had been a strong start for champion Ye Yifei, but an off on lap nine promoted the Spaniard, with Ye later retiring. The top eight was eventually rounded out by Theo Coicurd, from the back of the grid and Jose Sierra.

Credit: Nick Smith / TheImageTeam.com
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